MyPathway and HammondCare Partner in Low-Carbon Dementia Care Initiative

MyPathway has partnered with HammondCare to help improve patient care in England, whilst also supporting the NHS to become greener in its journey to reach Net Zero by 2040.

The partnership will develop and deploy the Virtual Dementia Behaviour Support Clinic – a specialist, virtual clinic, accessible anywhere, anytime for family, unpaid and paid carers of people experiencing severe behaviours associated with dementia.

HammondCare in the UK has been awarded funding by SBRI Healthcare – an Accelerated Access Collaborative initiative, to support the development of the virtual clinic, which will be hosted by MyPathway and will:

• offer a low-carbon, self-service escalation point for carers, reducing unnecessary use of primary, secondary and crisis services.
• provide highly tailored advice to address the underlying cause of behaviour and focus on non-pharmacological approaches, including social prescribing.
• and preliminary forecasts show a significant potential to de-carbonise existing pathways.

The Virtual Dementia Behaviour Support Clinic will help carers identify the reasons behind dementia behaviours and psychological symptoms, providing in-the-moment, personalised support, education, and resources to respond to them effectively. With the potential for reduced hospitalisations, efficient use of healthcare resources, improved medication experiences, and enhanced caregiver wellbeing, the app aims to save costs and improve outcomes.

Dr Julie Christie, Programme Manager at HammondCare said: ‘By reducing the need for in-person consultations and emergency visits and support, the Virtual Dementia Behaviour Support Clinic helps to minimise travel, staff and resource use and reduce carbon emissions by providing the right advice to carers and targeting in-person assistance to when it’s needed. This makes it an ideal solution for Integrated Care Boards and Primary Care Networks that want to prioritise both patient care and environmental sustainability targets.’

Judith Clarkson, Commercial Director MyPathway, a VitalHub company, commented: ‘We are excited to partner with HammondCare to deliver the Virtual Dementia Behaviour Support Clinic. We believe this initiative will deliver significant benefits across primary and secondary care networks and help increase the availability and convenience of accessing care for patients. We have seen from working in other specialities of care, such as MND and MSK, how effective a patient portal app can be in supporting clinicians and patients to communicate regularly without the need for face-to-face appointments. Unfortunately, the number of people with dementia in the UK is growing and is expected to increase to over 1 million by 2030, which will only further intensify the demand on the existing dementia care pathways. The Virtual Dementia Behaviour Support Clinic will help relieve some of this pressure, and we are proud to be part of this project.’

The SBRI Healthcare is a partnership between patient groups, government bodies, industry and the NHS hosted by NHS England, delivered in partnership with the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs).